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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24100528">teeth</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/theformerone/pseuds/theformerone'>theformerone</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, F/F, Post-Uchiha Sasuke Retrieval Arc, Soulmate-Identifying Marks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 23:47:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,186</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24100528</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/theformerone/pseuds/theformerone</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Karin's soulmate mark is a ring of teeth, deep in the flesh of her throat. </p><p>for naruto rarepair week day 4, soulmate au | bad things happen</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Karin/Tayuya (Naruto)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>73</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>teeth</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Karin comes upon her, too deep in Fire Country for her own good, but <em>pulledpulledpulled</em> by a feeling deep in her belly that says she has to move forward. </p><p>She knows Orochimaru would have her throat for venturing this far away from the village, especially when he needs her to heal his experiments, needs her to do her job as the warden, but this is more important. She isn't sure how she knows, but she does. </p><p>The mark at her throat, underneath all the countless others on top of it, is burning. It hurts, aches like the kind of pain Karin had thought was only a distant memory. Now, it beats in time with her heart, shoving her forward, forcing her to find the source. </p><p>There are hundreds of fallen trees in this forest, recently cut down. Karin isn't sure what kind of a jutsu could do such a thing. The burning of her soulmark gets hotter as she presses forward, climbing over tree trunks and yanking fallen branches out of the way. </p><p>A great cloud of dust provides good enough cover. Though Karin's ears aren't sharp, she's a natural sensor, and she can feel the chakra signatures of two shinobi, and one that is fading like a flickering light. Something about the weaker one makes her stomach clench. She understands why when she comes upon Tayuya. </p><p>Karin has never spoken to the girl. The pecking order in Oto is resolute, and though Karin is one of Orochimaru's favorites, she isn't in the Sound Four. Tayuya and the others are leagues above her. They've come to her for healing before on Orochimaru's orders, but she doubts any of them know her name. Why would they? </p><p>The ring of teeth on Karin's throat burns hotter, harder as she hedges closer, sweat dripping down her face with the effort of forcing herself over the fallen trees. She can't waste any excess chakra. </p><p>Tayuya looks like a broken doll. When Karin gets to her to assess the damage, her stomach turns <em>hard</em>. She looks almost peaceful, unconscious like this. </p><p>Karin checks her pulse, puts her ear to Tayuya's chest to see if the kunoichi is still breathing. Her heartbeat is soft and fading fast, so Karin does what she can. </p><p>She opens Tayuya's mouth, wedges her forearm between her teeth, and shuts her jaw with as much force as she can muster. She manages to make Tayuya draw blood. </p><p>Still able to use her hands, Karin forms the seals for an Earth Release. With her free hand, she strikes the ground at her feet, forcing a thick wall of stone up, lifting the two trees pinning Tayuya off of her. It gives them a decent amount of cover, and Karin gets a better look at the damage on her lower half. </p><p>Tayuya's legs are decimated, crushed and soft looking like crackers broken in the sleeve. Karin has seen worse, but the sight of <em>her </em>this wrecked makes bile rush up to and out of her throat. The ring of teeth on her skin burns just as bad as the vomit that spills from her mouth. </p><p>She wipes the back of her sleeve over her mouth, then pushes herself up onto the tree Tayuya is sprawled over. She can feel the dying light chakra inside of Tayuya rouse with the first bite Karin managed to make her take. She sticks the meat of her palm between Tayuya's teeth and forces another one, then a third, then a fourth, until a pair of brown eyes open. </p><p>The first thing that comes out of Tayuya's mouth is a scream. It comes out in one long sustained breath, almost like the music she pours out of her flute. </p><p>"<em>Fuck!</em>" she screams, tears beading up and falling down her eyes, her voice only barely muffled around Karin's palm stuffed in her mouth. </p><p>As the bones in her lower half stitch themselves back together, Karin feels her chakra leave her body and find purchase in Tayuya's. The screaming goes on, but this deep in the forest, with the cover of fallen trees and Karin's earth wall, the sound can't travel very far. </p><p>A sheen of sweat covers Tayuya's face as she twitches, organs mending, bones snapping back into place, chakra restored. Karin's heart thumps hard in her chest. The screaming means life. Pain means life. </p><p>"You stupid <em>bitch,</em>" Tayuya seethes, grabbing Karin's fingers and yanking the hand out of her mouth. "Which way did they go?" </p><p>"I got here after they were already gone."</p><p>"You shouldn't have healed me," she spits back. "I can't go back to Orochimaru like this."</p><p>"If you go back like this, you'll be the only survivor of the Sound Four." </p><p>Tayuya holds her tongue, eyes wide. Her legs aren't quite healed, but they look more like legs than too much rice shoved in a plastic bag. </p><p>"All the others?" </p><p>Karin shrugs impassionately. Their corpses hadn't bothered her so much. There was no helping the dead, so she moved past them. Tayuya at least had still been breathing. </p><p>"And if you're the last of the Sound Four, then you're the <em>leader </em>of the Sound Four." </p><p>Tayuya's eyes narrow at that. She looks down at her still broken legs and uses her thumb to wipe a smear of blood off her chin. </p><p>"Orochimaru sent you?" </p><p>Karin doesn't answer. It's better to be evasive when it comes to Orochimaru's orders. He'd probably be happy to have Tayuya back, if only to subject her to further experiments to make her stronger. He had had his eye on Kimimaro for some time as his new host, but with Uchiha Sasuke around, plans had changed. </p><p>"He's still going to need guards," Karin says instead. "Now that the Uchiha has been retrieved, probably more than he used to."</p><p>Tayuya's fingers curl up into fists, and she uses one to strike the tree beneath her. </p><p>"I'll get that spiky haired bitch and his girlfriend back for this." </p><p>Something about her rage at being beaten, her cavalier attitude about just coming back from death's door settles Karin's stomach. If she was well enough to swear vengeance, then she was well enough to move. </p><p>"I'll splint your legs, then carry you back."</p><p>With that, Karin yanks off her traveling cloak and tears it into pieces. She gathers thick strong tree branches, and checks Tayuya's legs for swelling. Touching her calves alone is enough to make Karin's face feel hot. She rolls her lips between her teeth and focuses on the task at hand. </p><p>It's while she's splinting Tayuya's left leg that she sees it, just below her knee; a tooth in bright pink relief against Tayuya's pale skin. </p><p>"What're you looking at, medic?" </p><p>Karin snaps her gaze back up to meet Tayuya's. </p><p>"Nothing," she replies. Secrets like these were better kept. "Are you ready?" </p><p>Tayuya huffs but nods, and careful as she can, Karin lifts the kunoichi onto her back, and begins the trek back to Sound Country. </p><p>She ignores Tayuya's breathing on the back of her throat, ghosting against the ring of teeth hidden under countless bites from strangers. </p>
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